Endless band abrading device



` c. w. cAs'roN ENDLESS BAND ABRADING. DEVICE Filed Jan. 28, 1947ATTORNEY Patented Aug. 15, 1950 1 Charles W.

Gaston, United States Army, San Antonio, Tex. `i

Application January 28,` 1947, serial Nb. 724,902

(Granted under the act of March 3, 1883, as amended April 30, 1928; 3700. G. 757) The invention described herein, if patented, may bemanufactured and used by or for the Government for governmental purposeswithout the -payment to me of any royalty thereon.

The present invention relates to an 'abrading apparatus, and whileprimarily intended for use in the production of artificial limbs, it mayalso be used in connection with the nishing or roughing in of many otherarticles.

A primary object of the invention resides in the formation of anabrading apparatus in which the abrading element is of a more or lesspermanent nature, in contradistinction to the usual strip of sandpapergenerally employed in devices of this time.

Another object of the invention consists in the provision of an abradingapparatus wherein the abrading element may be readily sharpened fromtime to time, and wherein the teeth of an abrading element forrelatively iine work may be enlarged so as to convert the abrader to acoarser or roughing-in type of work.

A still further object of the invention resides in the provision of anabrading or sanding device of the endless-belt type, in which cuttingteeth are struck up from an endless band of nexible steel, and in Iwhichthe opposed runs of the band are spaced apart a sufficient distance topermit of access therebetween to the end that cuttings passing throughthe openings formed by the teeth may be cleared away from time to timeso as to maintain the cutting action ci the band at its highestefficiency.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from thefollowing description when taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings in which Fig. 1 is a front elevational view illustrating acomplete embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view therethrough, taken on line 2--2 ofFig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the apparatus; and

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view through a portion ofthe abrading element.

Referring to the drawings in greater detail, the numeral I refers to atable or the like upon which the operating mechanism is mounted. Thetable top is provided with a central opening and a hinbged cross-bar 2which provide spaced parallel slots for the spaced runs or iiights of anabrading band. The bar 2 may, of course, be swung to vertical positionwhen a band is to be installed or removed. Mounted on the upper surfaceof the table I at the opposite ends thereof are opposed brackets orstandards 3 provided with bearings 4 at their upper ends for a shaft 5to which is fixed a roller 6.

Depending from the under surface of the table l is a pair of brackets Icarrying bearings 8 for a drive shaft 9 on which is fixed a roller Illfor supporting the lower portion of the endless cutting element andimparting motion thereto. Also supported on the under surface of thetable I is an electric motor I I, the shaft of which is shown asdirectly connected to the drive shaft 9 of the roller I0.

The cutting or abrading element is in the form of an endless band I2 offlexible steel similar to that used in band saws, and is provided withseries of outwardly directed teeth I3 arranged in staggered relation andintegrally formed by being struck up from the material 0f the band. Theabrasive band may be guided and maintained in its proper positionrelative to the rollers 6 and I0 by means of spaced rings I4 secured tothe roller in any suitable manner such as setscrews I5.

The operation of the device will of course be readily understood, itbeing only necessary to close the circuit to the motor Il and adjust therheostat, should one be employed, to obtain the desired linear speed ofthe abrading band I2. The artiiicial limb, or other piece of work beingoperated upon, will of course be manipulated Iwith respect to thetraveling band to provide the desired cutting or abrading action onvarious parts of the work.

The apparatus disclosed herein is highly eilicient and very effectivefor the uses to which it is particularly adapted, for instance, thedevice includes an endless abrading element of a permanent nature inthat it is made of exible steel as distinguished from the ordinaryendless bands of sandpaper; the teeth on various bands may be formed ofdiierent sizes so that the band of smaller teeth may be employed forfinishing operations, while the band of larger teeth may be used forroughing-in work. There is less danger of damaging the Iwork inroughing-n operations with the band of the present invention than wouldbe the case with a band saw or the like such as are now commonly usedfor roughing-in" purposes; the band of the present invention may bereadily sharpened at any time by merely holding a nat-faced stoneagainst the teeth while the band is running. And nally, a band providedwith small teeth for ne work may be readily converted to one for wearingor roughing-in by merely repunching the band to provide larger teeth.

A preferred embodiment of the invention has A 2,518,449 3 been shtviiand described herein in detail, but it REFERENCES CITED is to beunderstood that the present disclosure is intended as illustrative ofthe invention rather mglef i312? vygrfferences are Of record m the thanin a limiting sense, and that various minor changes in details ofconstruction are intended 5 UNITED STATES PATENTS to be included-withinthe scopemofrthea. appended liuii'limrrr Nameh Date Claim. 10,2465'Branson A Nove- 15, 1853v I claim: 414,747 Arzt Nov. 12, 1889 Anabrading device including a table providednl 782,245 Herrmann Feb. 14,1905 with a central opening, a bar hingedjdone.,edgelo, 1,789,298,Bertrand Jan. 20, 1931 of the opening and yproviding an pair of parakl2323,7'37HY Tavano July 8, 1947 slots, rollers mounted aboveanfL1913105111:,the:tax1er;A Y

a flexible endless band mounted on the rollersfandi. FREIGN PATENTSpassing through said slots, Iandabrading teeth. Number:f Country Dateformed in the material of the-band 15' 1325970 i Switzerland S8131?l 2,1929

